Exhale
by Fayrie Dust
Summary: Maka is brokenhearted by her seemingly unrequited feelings for Soul. And when Crona begins to behave strangely around her, he seeks to figure out why.


_**Chapter One**__** – "Flash"**_

Maka is probably one of the kindest people I will ever have the pleasure to meet. I always had to be mindful of others, and I didn't know how to deal with people very well. I didn't even know how to deal with myself. I was always scared, and I closed in on myself. But Maka…Maka Albarn brought down my barriers and opened my eyes to the world. She showed me there was more to the world than just darkness, loneliness and pain. In time, I could let myself feel somewhat normal. I never knew what normal was supposed to feel like.

Well, then again…I'm not sure if this is what normal is either.

Lately, I've been feeling strange whenever I'm around Maka…my chest hurts, almost like it's about to fall out onto the floor. Sometimes I catch myself holding my breath around her, especially when she embraces me or holds my hand. I don't want her to let me go. I just want her to go on holding me forever.

But…why? I don't understand why I can't get her out my head. She's always there, even when I close my eyes. I always see her. And I don't want it to stop, either.

* * *

"Crona! Soul! Dinner is ready!"

Soul and I were playing some video games when Maka called us in for dinner. I don't always stay over at their house, but it's a nice change of pace from the stone walls of the academy. Maka and Soul were even kind enough to find me some clothes other than that black robe for me to wear…but the two of them were quote amazed when they saw I picked out boy's clothes. Apparently, they were not 100% sure if I was male or not. I found it kind of humorous now. Soul convinced me to wear black skinny jeans, sneakers and a long-sleeved sweater. It felt odd having something hugging my legs, but it was comfortable enough. And as a plus, Ragnorak couldn't make fun of me for wearing a dress anymore.

"Dinner looks great," said Soul. Maka had cooked one of his favorites; beef curry. "I'm digging in." He took his usual spot next to Maka at the small dinner table in their kitchen, and I sat across from her, and next to an empty chair that was reserved for Blair. Unfortunately, she was not sitting….she was dancing around the kitchen wearing nothing but an apron. It seemed Maka and Soul had grown accustomed to her….idiosyncrasies.

"I hope you enjoy it, Crona," Maka said, staring directly at me. My heart began to pound.

I gulped. "Oh, uh…uh…thank you, thank you so much, Maka," I picked up my chopsticks, but before I could bring the food to my mouth, Ragnorak popped out of my back and ate it himself.

Maka looked irritated. "Did you want a plate too, Ragnorak?" she said, her eyebrow twitching.

"Well, DUH!" shouted Ragnorak. "I gotta eat too, ya bitch!"

Soul decided to pipe in, his mouth full of rice and meat. "Whaft dud youff colf Makhaff?"

Ragnorak bent over my head and shoved his face into my plate, helping himself to the probably magnificent meal Maka had made for me.

"Ahh … Deeee-leeeshus," Ragnorak burped loudly. "Got any more?"

Maka reached over the table and smacked Ragnorak with a heavy hard-covered book. "YEOOW! What the heck was that for?"

"Learn some manners," said Maka. "Crona, take my plate. I'll get another for myself."

I felt so embarrassed, even though I didn't really do anything wrong. "Oh…A-Alright."

Maka giggled as she handed me the plate and I placed it down in front of me. I looked away, even though I had an overwhelming urge to look at her smiling face. I always loved seeing her smile...

Dinner went on normally, with Ragnorak throwing insults left and right and Maka hitting him multiple times with various books. It felt…fun. And I even caught myself laughing. I didn't have to be shy around these people. I could be myself, whoever that was.

We talked for hours, long after our food was cleared from our plates. Soul and Maka talked about the fun times they were having together. They were still working to make Soul into a death scythe, and they were often busy with missions from all over the world. And although I loved hearing their stories, I couldn't help but feel like there was a tight grip in my stomach when Soul and Maka looked at each other. There was something between them….something I couldn't quite ascertain. I couldn't quite tell what the emotion was, but I felt almost angry, or perhaps annoyed. It didn't make any sense. If I was there friend, shouldn't I always be happy to be around them? I shouldn't be feeling so…._sick._

Maka looked over to the window, and her face contorted into a frown. "Oh, no…"

"Huh?" I said. "What's wrong, Maka?"

"Look. It's raining pretty bad out there."

The three of us looked outside, and sure enough, a flash of lightning flashed, and the lights went out in the kitchen, making everything dark.

"OooooHHhh noooo!" cried the shrill, over-exaggerated voice of Blair, this time completely wet from her shower, wearing absolutely nothing but her bunny slippers. I promptly covered my eyes, but I heard a CRASH and a BOOM as soon as I did. Curiosity pried my eyes open, and lo and behold, Blair was lying on top of a bloody-nosed Soul.

"The dark is SOOOO scary Soul, won't you come and help me finish up my shower?" she cooed, now biting his ear.

Soul was ignoring us. "Oh...Uh..I don't know about that Blair..." he said, but he didn't seem to put much effort into fighting her back as she started pulling him towards the back, where the bathroom was.

"Blair! You can't just kidnap him whenever you want! We were talking." Maka shouted, practically screaming. I've seldom heard her so forceful outside of combat.

But Soul wasn't really listening. "I-I'll catch up with you guys later!" Soul shouted, leaving Maka and I alone in the dark kitchen.

I turned my gaze over to Maka, who I could barely see, but as another flash of lightning commenced, I saw her face for a split second, and I was shocked at what I saw. Her face had been pained, and I could have sworn I saw a few tears trickling down her face. I don't know why, but I instinctively reached my hand out for her. She didn't notice.

"M-Maka?" I stuttered.

No response. Instead, she turned around and started rummaging through the cabinet under the sink. She placed some things on the table and quickly lit a match. She had placed several candles on the table. She chose a particularly fat one and lit it with her match, and the room was illuminated, and also filled with the sweet scent of vanilla.

"Maka...are...a-are you alright?" I said, trying to put more force into my words. She looked at me this time, and made a tiny smile. It didn't look like a happy one, though.

Finally, she spoke. "The weather is bad outside. You should just stay here for tonight. I'll get you a pillow and some blankets for you, so you can sleep on the couch."

I swallowed. I'd be staying over at Maka's house? How...How am I supposed to deal with this situation?

But I didn't argue.

"Th-Thank you..."

* * *

"Sooouuuul," Blair cooed, still holding onto Soul's arm. "You haven't really played with me in a while, you know."

Soul blushed, turning away. "It was only touching, damn cat. Don't get your hopes up."

Blair started whining. "But I thought you were going to help me take my shower?"

Soul sighed. "No, Blair. I'm going to get you some candles so you don't have to bathe in the dark. There's some under the sink."

"Ugh!" Blair scoffed, and crossed her arms. She was still completely naked, but Soul had seen her body enough times to not be incapacitated by it anymore, even if it did give him a nosebleed. "Soul, if I wanted any lighting, I could have just summoned a pumpkin lantern."

"Then why did you bring me back here?"

"It's fun screwing around with you, of course…." She said, smiling coyly. "And… it's been a while since I've serviced someone. I thought maybe you'd be up to the task."

Soul's eyes went wide. "Uh, no. No way. Bestiality is totally not cool."

Blair stomped her foot. "Come _on_ soul. Have you seen these curves?" she posed accordingly, her hipbones jutting out nicely. "And my chest?" She shook her chest slightly, which made her humongous breasts jiggle a bit. Soul covered his eyes with his hand.

"Blair, stop it. You can't just manipulate people with your body because you're horny." Soul turned away and went for the door. "I'm not going to tell you again. Stop trying to con your way into my pants. It won't work."

"Fine, fine," Blair complained. She snapped her fingers and several tiny glowing pumpkins appeared around her. "But you're missing out."

Soul rolled his eyes, and closed the bathroom door behind him.

_**~To Be Continued**_


End file.
